Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts and field crops. Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; cleaning, packing, and loading harvested products. May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities.
U.S. Workers
261,690
Median Salary
$35,690
10-Year Growth
-3.3%
Annual Openings
71,700
Typical entry: No formal educational credential
14 of 14 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Apply pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers to crops.
AI: Fully automatable - Autonomous sprayers, drones, and precision application systems controlled by AI can plan and execute pesticide, herbicide, and fertilizer applications in many farming contexts.
Inform farmers or farm managers of crop progress.
AI: Fully automatable - AI systems can continuously monitor sensor and imagery data and automatically generate timely reports and alerts on crop progress for farmers and managers.
Record information about crops, such as pesticide use, yields, or costs.
AI: Fully automatable - Recording pesticide use, yields, and costs can be fully automated through sensors, telemetry, and farm management software that log and integrate this data.
Participate in the inspection, grading, sorting, storage, and post-harvest treatment of crops.
AI: Fully automatable - Computer-vision systems and automated sorting/grading lines already perform inspection, grading, sorting, storage control, and many post-harvest treatments end-to-end in commercial operations.
Direct and monitor the work of casual and seasonal help during planting and harvesting.
AI: Partial - AI can schedule, assign, and monitor seasonal workers and provide oversight tools, but motivating, coordinating nuanced on-the-ground decisions and supervision still needs human managers.
Identify plants, pests, and weeds to determine the selection and application of pesticides and fertilizers.
AI: Partial - Computer vision and diagnosis models can identify many plants, pests, and weeds and recommend treatments, but accuracy gaps, novel pests, and nuanced agronomic judgment limit full automation.
Set up and operate irrigation equipment.
AI: Partial - AI and automated systems can operate and remotely manage irrigation systems and controllers, but physical setup and complex on-site installation still typically require human labor.
Operate tractors, tractor-drawn machinery, and self-propelled machinery to plow, harrow and fertilize soil, or to plant, cultivate, spray and harvest crops.
AI: Partial - Autonomous tractors and implements can perform many field operations in well-structured environments, but variability, complex maneuvers, and small/irregular fields limit full automation by 2025.
Repair and maintain farm vehicles, implements, and mechanical equipment.
AI: Partial - AI-driven diagnostics and guided maintenance tools assist repair and upkeep, yet hands-on mechanical repair and complex troubleshooting still require skilled human technicians.
Clear and maintain irrigation ditches.
AI: Partial - Mechanical equipment and remotely operated machines can assist with ditch clearing and maintenance, but many tasks require human-operated heavy equipment and site-specific judgment.
Dig and plant seeds, or transplant seedlings by hand.
AI: Partial - Robotic planters and transplanting machines exist and can perform many seeding tasks, but variability in crop types, terrain, and delicate hand-based tasks limit full automation by 2025.
Repair farm buildings, fences, and other structures.
AI: Partial - AI can diagnose issues, generate repair plans, and guide humans, but the diverse manual skills and on-site problem-solving required for repairing buildings and fences are not fully automatable yet.
Harvest fruits and vegetables by hand.
AI: Partial - Robotic harvesters exist for some crops and can partially replace hand-picking, but delicate, varied, and many specialty crop harvests still rely on human pickers.
Load agricultural products into trucks, and drive trucks to market or storage facilities.
AI: Partial - Automated loading systems and autonomous vehicles exist in controlled settings, but fully reliable end-to-end autonomous truck transport to markets on public roads remains limited in deployment and robustness.